Iraq attacks kill nine

At least nine people have been killed in two separate attacks in an area southeast of Baghdad torn by sectarian violence.

04 Mar 2006 13:00 GMT

A daytime traffic ban in Baghdad has been lifted

An explosion on Saturday in a crowded market near a bus station killed seven people and wounded 20 in the town of Gisr Diyala near Salman Pak.

The blast destroyed a minibus at a bus stop opposite a market in the Zafaraniya district on Saturday, an Interior Ministry official said.

In the second attack, a car bombing near a police checkpoint in Salman Pak killed two civilians and wounded three police officers.

Two people were wounded when another bomb hit a trailer truck in south Baghdad.

On Friday, the Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq denounced the attack on a power station in Nahrawan district, east of Baghdad, as a heinous crime. Twenty-five workers were killed in the attack late on Thursday night.

In a statement, the organisation warned against what it called American plots to sow discord among Iraqis.